OCTOBER 17, 1959

NEW YORK—Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge's speech on global disarmament the other day before the General Assembly's Political Committee was most interesting to me. And I was particularly interested to find that he feels that the proposal to the United Nations by Soviet Premier Khrushchev does not mean that the proposal for a 10-nation disarmament committee outside the U.N. should not be carried out.

This looks as though the Soviet Union and ourselves want this discussion outside of the U.N. I am a little fearful because in this group it seems to me that the Soviets have an undoubted advantage over the West. On the West's side there will be five independent nations, each with their own point of view, whereas the Soviets and their satellites will act as one.

Mr. Lodge is quite right in saying that there should be a careful consideration of what the Soviets mean when they say they will accept inspection and control. Our nation does accept, however, total disarmament as an ultimate objective, but the realization of how many problems have to be solved before we can have real disarmament does not seem to me to have been entirely put before the country as yet.

I am glad that it looks as though there might be some solution in the steel strike. Both sides seem to have said that there were debatable points between them. It will certainly be a relief to the country if some solution is found that allows for a real settlement.

On Wednesday of this week at Mrs. Lewis Thompson's request I went to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., for a luncheon, and met first at lunch with a group of graduate students who are studying practical politics in order to fit themselves to enter government service on a practical political level.

After lunch we had a question-and-answer period with representatives of the foreign student group. They have some 300 foreign students at Rutgers and they seem to me to be a very bright and interesting group of young men and women.

We drove from there to Jamesburg to visit a reform institution for boys. The Lions Club has taken a particular interest in this institution where boys between eight and 16 years old are committed for rehabilitation.

This happened to be the day of the 38th pilgrimage of the Lions Club, which does a great deal for these boys. On their part, the boys are conscious of this interest and they had prepared a play for their guests. Some of the boys are quite remarkable acrobats, and their band was excellent. The director of the school said that it made a difference in the boys to have a drum that they could beat. It seemed to release their inner feelings of antagonism in a harmless way.

The Lions Club provides an ice-cream dinner for the boys on the day of their annual visit, as well as a dinner for the members of the club, and for the latter event many of the members brought their wives.

I feel sure that this show of interest in how the boys are getting on and the gifts of TV sets and athletic equipment and the fulfillment of various other needs are deeply appreciated. These are boys who need to feel warmth and interest, and I was told that the interest extends after their release. In every district some of the Lions Club members accept responsibility for the released boys and are on call if the boys feel they need a friend.

I spoke at this dinner and enjoyed my time with the members of the club and my contacts with the boys who showed me around the different cottages where they are housed. Jamesburg, it seemed to me, is a hopeful institution.